The various types of the mouthpieces are well known. The mouthpieces containing a single reed and/or mouthpieces entirely consisting of a double-reed are also well known in the field of the wind musical instruments, and particularly in the woodwind musical instruments.
As it is well known, the mouthpieces are intended to produce sound on the wind instruments. It is also well known, that a reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most wind musical instruments may be made from bamboo. Also known, that the reeds of most woodwind musical instruments are usually made from Arundo donax (“Giant cane”) or bamboo too, or in the modern time even from the synthetic materials.
The single reeds are generally used on the mouthpieces of the wind musical instruments, for example, such as clarinets and saxophones. The back of the reed is flat and is placed against the mouthpiece, the rounded top side tapers to a thin tip. Such reeds are roughly rectangular in shape except for the thin vibrating tip, which is curved to match the curve of the mouthpiece tip. All single reeds are configured similarly but distinguished in size to fit each musical instrument's mouthpiece. Reeds designed for the same instrument may look identical to each other, but may vary in hardness (“thickness” or “strength”). Hardness is generally measured on a scale of 1 through 5 from softest to hardest. This is not a standardized scale and reed strengths vary by manufacturers. The thickness of the tip and heel and the profile in between affect the sound and playability. Cane of different grades (density, stiffness), even if cut with the same profile, will also respond differently. This is due to the natural differences in the density of the cane fibers. As it is known, the cane used to make reeds for saxophone, clarinet, and other single reed instruments is a special cane grown in the southern coastal regions of France. Once the cane is cut, it must lay out and dry in direct sunlight for about a month. The cane is rotated regularly to ensure proper and complete drying. Once dry, they are taken to be stored. As the cane is needed, it is pulled from the storage facility and delivered to the factory. At the factory, the cane is cut into tubes. The tubes are selected by diameter and walls' density. Further, the tubes are cut into “splits” which are transformed into so called “reed blanks”. The blanks are then tapered and profiled using special blades or machines into reeds. After all these steps, the strength of the reeds is graded by machines.
Double-reeds are used on the oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn, bass oboe, Heckelphone, bassoon, contrabassoon, sarrusophone, shawm, bagpipes, nadaswaram, shehnai and duduk (doo-dook). The double-reeds are typically not used in conjunction with a mouthpiece, e.g. such as used on clarinets and saxophones, and other similar musical instruments. A single reed consists of one piece of cane which vibrates against a mouthpiece made of metal, hardened rubber, resin, or some other material. The term double-reeds can also refer collectively to the class of musical instruments which use double-reeds. There are several differences, the most obvious being size, between various types of double-reeds, for example, between that for a bassoon and that for an oboe or a cor anglais (sometimes called an English horn).
For bassoon reeds, tubes of this cane are first split lengthwise then gouged to a certain thickness. The chosen piece of cane is then cut to shape and the centre portion is thinned (profiled). The cane is folded end to end to form the two blades of the reed. The unprofiled end of the cane is shaped into a tube with the aid of a mandrel and bound with three (or four in some reed making techniques) strategically placed wires. A turban made out of thread is added on the third wire. It provides a hand hold for the reed that isn't a sharp wire. The folded tip is cut off to allow the blades to vibrate and final adjustments to the interior of the reed using a reamer, and to the exterior using a reed-scraping knife, are carried out. The reed is then ready to fit to the bocal of the bassoon. Note that there are many schools of thought and processes for making reeds.
The construction of double-reeds for the oboe family of instruments is similar in principle: like the bassoon's reeds, they consist of two pieces of cane fastened together with an opening at the tip. However, because the oboe does not have a bocal, the cane must be fastened to a metal tube (the staple), the lower half of which is normally surrounded by a piece of cork. The staple is then inserted into the farrow at the upper end of the oboe.
There are many different methods of making reeds and many variations of design have been developed. Players can buy reeds either ready-made, or in various stages of formation, such as part-scraped, reed blanks, or buy the staples and cane separately. Cane is sold in several forms: as tubes, gouged, gouged and shaped, or gouged and shaped and profiled. Bassoon cane has the further option of being profiled before purchase. Even if the cane from southern France is considered as the best, the cone from several different regions is also used in reed making. There are also many options with regard to staples, shaping equipment, and so forth, which all have a subtle effect on the tone quality a reed will produce.
The duduk is an ancient double-reed woodwind flute made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. The unflattened reed (cane) and cylindrical body produce a sound closer to the English horn than to more commonly known double-reeds. Unlike other double-reed instruments like the oboe or shawm, the duduk has a very large reed proportional to its size. The duduk is a double-reed woodwind musical instrument with ancient origins, having existed since at least the fifth century. The earliest instruments similar to the duduk's present form are made of bone or entirely of cane. Today, the duduk is exclusively made of wood with a large double-reed, with the body made from aged apricot wood. The particular tuning depends heavily on the region in which it is played. It is known, that in the twentieth century, the Armenian duduk began to be standardized diatonic in scale and single-octave in range. Accidentals, or chromatics are achieved using fingering techniques. The instrument's body also has different lengths depending upon the range of the instrument and region. The reed is made from one or two pieces of cane in a duck-bill type assembly. Unlike other double-reed instruments, the reed is quite wide, helping to give the duduk both its unique, mournful sound, as well as its remarkable breath requirements.
In the modern time, duduk may be made of maple or other wood. The duduk is noticed in a few of the U.S. Patents, i.e.: U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,439,429; 7,563,970; 7,884,273 and 8,039,721.
All known prior art describes the uncontrollable double-reed mouthpieces of the wind musical instruments.
Thus, there is a need in the art for the improved double-reed mouthpiece (further may be called as “mouthpiece”), providing control of the tone (widening the variety of the tones) on the woodwind musical instruments, for example, such as duduk and other similar musical instruments.